2021/03/27 by Gregory E. Blomquist · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Digital Games and Media #Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology #Gender, Feminism, and Media #Character (mathematics) #Agency (philosophy) #Imitation #Subjectivity #Aesthetics #Perspective (graphical) #Postmodernism #Representation (politics) #Empathy #Monster #Resistance (ecology) #Sociology #Psychology #Epistemology #Art #Social psychology #Philosophy #Visual arts #Literature #Politics #Law
paper · doi:10.1177/15554120211005232
openalex publication_date 2021/03/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article explores the representation of monstrous-feminine agency through the character of Kerrigan in the StarCraft series with emphasis on StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Kerrigan’s subjectivity as a player-character complicates her in ways that require a different application of the monstrous-feminine from those characters from literature, film, and video games that position them as enemies to overcome. The article begins examining Kerrigan through the lens of the monstrous-feminine and the abject before discussing how her hypersexualization ostensibly contradicts her monstrosity as an empowering force. The author then explores the obstacles Kerrigan must overcome and how this struggle reifies her disruption of and resistance against the symbolic order. The discussion concludes that Kerrigan’s connection between the player and monstrous-feminine character is a significant paradigm shift for the female monster and how agency and empathy allow players to understand the monstrous-feminine in a new perspective.